Happy Earth Day!

[Brian Howell]

Welcome to the Anthropocene. Do we stand a chance?

The Earth is sick. It is full of tumors and suppurating wounds. And far from treating them, we are exacerbating them. To its—and our—detriment.

Less than half of Americans are concerned about the environment, least so about climate change. (Perhaps that's why Obama’s comments today focused on the economic aspects of climate change rather than the biological consequences.) And even those who are, are often focusing on other issues. In Florida, governor Rick Scott has forbidden the use of the term climate change.

With sea levels rising, the ocean acidifying, snow- and rainfall patterns changing,large regions undergoing desertification, an estimated 25% to 50% of terrestrial species to be lost by mid-century, and (long-lived) pollutants spreading throughout the environment, the question of the day is, do we have a chance?

Will the human species survive the next 100 years? The next 50? What will the world look like, then? How could we better engage people in this crisis? (Here’s one perspective: end “People are Bad” environmentalism)

Another depressing article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/22/ignorance-is-killing-our-earth.html

Sidebar: I was born during the Space Age. Men landed on the Moon when I was seven. I grew up awash in American Exceptionalism and humanity's technological superiority over our environment (when it was built, I thought that the Alaska pipeline was very cool), which in turn led me to be a utopianist. I believed that humankind could solve whatever problems it faced. Past tense.

Have a wonderful Earth Day!